Traditional farming includes methods wherein plants are planted in rows in soil, fertilized, watered and allowed to grow naturally until they reach a stage of growth in which they are harvested.
Such traditional farming methods have a number of limitations and disadvantages, for example, low density of plants per square meter thus requiring large areas of land to be farmed, and relative high carbon emission resulting from tractors and/or machinery used as well as extensive use of petrochemical based substances such as synthetic fertilizer, herbicides and/or pesticides.
Over time, such traditional systems/methods have been modified by covering the plants, for example, in tunnels made of a material that protects the plants from insects and the elements but, to a large extent, does very little to increase plant density and/or minimize carbon emission, or even trap carbon for use in the cultivation of plants.
High density farming methods in greenhouses such as hydroponics include a method of growing plants using mineral nutrient solutions in water without soil. Terrestrial plants may be grown with their roots in the mineral nutrient solution only or in an inert medium such as perlite, gravel, biochar, mineral wool, expanded clay pebbles or coconut husk.
Although hydroponics increases the yield per square meter and permits conditions for plant growth to be improved over traditional farming methods, hydroponics only addresses certain aspects of plant growth. The supply of nutrients to the roots of the plant and exposure to light and the density of plants is still quite limited as the plants are spread out in a single plane and typically have their roots extending into a pool of nutrient solution.